The present invention relates generally to light filtering devices and relates more particularly to an attachment for motor vehicle visors which includes a tinted sheet for reducing sun glare and mounting means for attaching and positioning the sheet on a vehicle visor.
Driving a motor vehicle toward the sun, particularly during the periods just after sunrise or just before sunset, can greatly reduce a driver's view of the road. The deployment of the vehicle visor can in most instances provide some relief, but in many situations it may be inadequate. For example, the vehicle visor will usually not extend into the center region of the windshield due to the interfering presence of the rear view mirror. Also the vehicle visor usually does not extend downwardly far enough to cut off sun glare reflecting from the road surface. If the visor does extend downwardly enough for this purpose, it may block the view of the road ahead, due to its opaque nature.
In view of the above and other shortcomings of the conventional vehicle visor, the desirability of an auxiliary visor selectively extendable from the vehicle visor and employing a transparent tinted sheet has been recognized, and a number of attempts have been made to provide an effective auxiliary visor of this type. Although some of these attempts have provided an adequate device for selectively extending the auxiliary visor either below the vehicle visor or to the side of the vehicle visor, none until the present invention have provided an auxiliary visor which can be selectively set either below or to the side of the vehicle visor or at any desired intermediate position, and which can be quickly pivoted into a storage position flush with the vehicle visor.
One type of prior art device includes a sliding auxiliary visor as illustrated for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,853,370, 4,690,451 and 4,792,176. In such devices, guide means are provided which permit vertical or horizontal movement of the auxiliary visor, but there is no provision for extending the visor into the regions adjacent the car visor corners. Furthermore, in slide type devices the motion of the car tends to dislodge the auxiliary visor from its desired position.
In another type of device, the auxiliary visor is supported on a single arm, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,812,209 and 4,090,733. It is difficult to mount such a device so that it can easily be swung to the desired position and so that it will remain rigidly fixed in that position despite the motions of the vehicle.
In still another design, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,992, the auxiliary visor is pivotally connected to the car visor for rotation about a horizontal axis and is further provided with a slide and a ball pivot to aid in positioning. However, this patent does not address the problem of how to hold the auxiliary visor in a selected position.
Finally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,833,591 and 3,961,820 show auxiliary visors wherein the position of the auxiliary visor is changed by adjusting the position of the auxiliary visor mounting means on the car visor as well as by pivotal movement of the auxiliary visor. This would be cumbersome and difficult to do with one hand while driving.